5 Different Ideas, Subjects & Topics for Your Next Slam Poem

1. Go completely abstract. Write about a dream you had.

From my experience, dreams don't start or end with a finite beginning or finish line.

Maybe your story, your poem, starts with you running through a forest of fire and it leads to your elementary school and you can identify the people staring at you, you can hear their comments - things you thought people said about you behind your back.

Or perhaps you're floating on a cloud watching yourself play soccer as a kid and then as you kick the ball you fall through the earth into the pits of hell - take it somewhere!

Maybe you dreamt about a birdhouse, lived in it, and wrote graffiti on the walls - what was that like? And for the delivery, the spoken part of your words, who knows, maybe go up to the stage blindfolded or turn your back to the audience the whole time.

Maybe even deliver it from the audience, yelling aloud and moving through the crowd. Whatever you choose, make sure its in alignment with your story.
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"Wu W"

2. Your rendition of something. If you've ever seen a play, watched a movie or even took in a concert, there's a good chance you have your own perspective and outlook of the story line, the message or the theme.

And your view might differ from that of your friend or your neighbor or a critic. So as an idea for a spoken word piece, you could do one of these things:

create a new ending

create a new beginning

tell the story from a side character's POV (a secondary character, the drummer of the band, the DJ, stage crew, etc.)

write a poem about the message you got from the performance, especially if its 'against the masses'

take the story and relate it to your real life - who is what character in your story?

Here's an example of how this could unfold: I saw Wu-Tan Clan in concert back in 2007 in Orlando, FL. For anyone who's a fan, you probably know that RZA is very tight with Quentin Tarantino. So much so that they actually brought him out on stage - he performed a verse from Rules with The Clan.

When I looked at him on stage, I identified in a different way than many.

As a poet who spent a lot of time in the street and in rehabs, etc., I've often been the "token" dude in the crowd. I'm a dorky white kid from the 'burbs. Seeing Quentin on stage with Wu-Tang (who I idolize, still to this day), resonated with me.

That's inspiration to write a whole lotta shit!

I could write about what its like to be the token white kid. Or what its like to be run with crowds of very different-minded dudes from different backgrounds than me.

I could also take it one step further and write what it would feel like to hang with my idols for a day. The list goes on - experiences like this breed ideas.
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3. Rewrite a classic. This is similar to my thought above, but stays more within the realm of poetry and storytelling.

For instance, one of my favorite books growing up was Shel Silverstein's Falling Up. Something I've always wanted to do was create an ode to some of the work that helped shape me.

Be cautious of copyright infringement, but sometimes old things are great inspiration.

They can be books, stories, poetry or even just characters from one of those.

I'd definitely do Hop On Pop and Cat In The Hat!

Maybe even add a bit of a spin to it - The Cat In The Hat With Tourrettes; or The Alley Cat In The Hat and make him a junkie (sorry, my own twisted mind).
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4. Take people watching to a whole new level. Whether its sitting on a park bench, riding shotgun in your buddy's car or being a voyeur from a glass window above, watching what people do is fantastic - and absolutely hysterical when in the right mind frame.

There are a lot of places you can take people watching.

You could pick a particular passer-byer and write down all your thoughts on that person - build them a life, a history and a personality.

Maybe its funny, maybe its about an axe murderer who works 9-5 in corporate America - make it up.

Or you can focus on a group of people together, inject yourself into their world and write "what its like to be a high school cheerleader" or "fraternity guys are the shit" or "wannabe comedians that have huge brains are god's gift to the planet".

Again, make it up.

You could also take bits and pieces of your observations and write about your day of people watching holistically. Grab some soundbytes from this person, some fashion notes on this one, etc. and compile stories from there. OR, you can end up writing about how dirty it feels to become a voyeur for the day :)

5. Write your life's resume in the form of spoken word. This is something I only thought of recently. I'm working on mine.

I think using a resume as a slam poem topic is something totally different and unique.

Even if a thousand people created one, they would all be distinct.

Much like a 'rape poem' (a topic that's been slammed about so many times - except not from the male point of view **ahem, hint, topic**), they are all a little different and never fail to hit home.

Check back soon, I'll be posting and linking to my own life's resume poem. I'm excited about it!

Slam poetry is as much about your message as it is about the story and about the performance.

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